Several protocols have been implemented to facilitate communications over a network, such as a Wide Area Network (WAN), ISDN network, or even the Internet. One of these protocols is the point-to-point protocol (PPP), which provides a standard method for transporting multi-protocol datagrams over point-to-point links. The PPP protocol is set forth in Request for Comments 1661, which is published at http://ds.internic.net/rfc/rfc1661.txt, and is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Another established protocol is the PPP Multilink protocol (MP), which provides a method for splitting, recombining and sequencing datagrams across multiple logical data links between two endpoints, or peers. The MP protocol was originally motivated by the desire to exploit multiple bearer channels in ISDN, but is equally applicable to any situation in which multiple PPP links connect two systems, including async links. Multilink protocol negotiation permits a system to indicate to its peer that it is capable of combining multiple physical links into a "bundle." A system indicates to its peer that it is willing to do multilink by sending the multilink option as part of the initial negotiation between the two systems. The goal of multilink operation is to coordinate multiple independent links between a fixed pair of systems, providing a virtual link with greater bandwidth than any of the constituent members. The bundled links can be different physical links, as in multiple async lines, but may also be instances of multiplexed links, such as ISDN, X.25 or Frame Relay. The links may also be of different kinds, such as pairing dial-up async links with leased synchronous links.
The PPP Multilink protocol is set forth in Request for Comments 1990 and published at http://ds.internic.net/rfc/rfc1990.txt, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Another related protocol is the PPP Bandwidth Allocation Protocol (BAP) and the associated PPP Bandwidth Allocation Control Protocol (BACP), which provide a method to manage the dynamic bandwidth allocation of implementations supporting the PPP multilink protocol. The BAP and BACP are set forth in Request for Comments 2125 and published at http//ds.internic.net/rfc/rfc2125.txt, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. The BAP can be used to manage the number of links in a multilink bundle and defines datagrams to coordinate adding and removing individual links in a multilink bundle, as well as specifying which peer is responsible for which decisions regarding managing bandwidth during a multilink connection.
The problem with these existing protocols is that if a system desires to add N links (e.g., ISDN B-channels) to an MP bundle, it will have to wait for N sequential BAP requests where each request consists of a BAP request message, BAP response message, call completion, and BAP status message (N represents a positive integer). Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system and method for adding N links to an MP bundle in a simultaneous fashion, which will allow for increased responsiveness to transient network loads.